Clouds and Sky Domes in DAZ Octane?

[Spectralis]

I'm trying to work out if it's possible to use sky domes and clouds with DAZ Octane plugin? When I load a project with a sky dome the sky is black and the scene is dark. I have to delete the sky dome to use the Octane daylight environment. Is there a way to continue using sky domes or to add clouds to Octanes daylight environment? I love the wonderful Octane blue skies but blue skies don't work with everything!

[larsmidnatt]

You just need to remember that "sky domes" are geometry that blocks light. So you can set up said sky dome to be a light emitter if you wish. (this basically would turn it into something like an HDR basically)

Or you can use an HDR instead of setting up a skydome with light. (but you want the daylight environment)

Also you can turn off the rendering of the "blue sky" by turning on the alpha channel when you render. This way you can add the background sky later in post work.

[linvanchene]

edited and removed by user

[Spectralis]

Thanks for the replies. If I use HDR's where can I get some really good ones with just the sky and clouds? The idea of using an alpha channel instead of the sky and then adding the sky in post would be great for animations as I have a few timelapse sky and cloud videos.

But the suggestion to be able to create an atmosphere with proper clouds would be the best. Are there any cloud models for DAZ/Poser? I know there are a few space models with stars and planets using sky domes but haven't found any for natural earth atmospheres.

I did try this HDR set in DAZ/Octane:

http://www.daz3d.com/hdr-prosets-monterey

It works with DAZ Octane Daylight environment but I haven't found a way to adjust the light and the objects in the scene don't produce shadows. Maybe if I loaded it as an HDR in Octane but I've tried loading HDR's and didn't really have a clue what I was doing. Wish there was a tutorial on using HDR's in Octane.

[Spectralis]

I've been trying to use HDR's with DAZ Octane but none of the objects in the scene cast shadows. What am I doing wrong? In Octane I have the lights set to 'default HDR texture environment'. I've set the texture to 'image' and loaded an HDR. The HDR appears in the render but none of the objects cast shadows.

[t_3]

I've been trying to use HDR's with DAZ Octane but none of the objects in the scene cast shadows. What am I doing wrong? In Octane I have the lights set to 'default HDR texture environment'. I've set the texture to 'image' and loaded an HDR. The HDR appears in the render but none of the objects cast shadows.

in general hdri environments cause rather soft shadows by nature; means if the hdri environment lights the scene from all sides (what is pretty common), you will of course not get specific shadowing; it's just like you are somewhere in daylight, but not directly exposed to the sun: everything is bright, but no sharp shadows.

a good combination is imo a hdri environment plus one or two additional (mesh)light objects...